You've Been Eating Cereal Wrong This Whole Time

Do you pour soda on your dinner?

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Have you ever thought about how crazy it is that you pour a drink onto your food? I'm guessing that you eat your favorite cereal brand by pouring the cereal into a bowl, drenching the cereal with milk, and then devouring the cereal and the milk with a spoon. It's probably what you've done since you were a toddler.

But what other meal do you drench with a common drink right before eating it? Do you pour soda onto your dinner? Mix in wine with your appetizer? Pour coffee over pancakes and bacon? No. So why is it normal to dowse your perfectly crunchy cereal with milk until it’s a soggy mess?

Is It Tradition?

Kirby Barth

During the late 1800's, the first manufactured breakfast cereal was made by a religious, conservative, vegetarian named James Caleb Jackson, who wanted to promote healthier eating with a vegetarian option. Back then, Americans ate a lot of meat for breakfast, and didn't incorporate enough fiber into their diets.

The only reason Jackson added milk to his cereal was because it literally needed to be soaked in order to eat it. But now, we don't actually have to soak cereal overnight in milk for it to be edible. Fortunately for us, our cereal is no longer hard as a rock.

Today, people just add milk because they enjoy the cereal and milk flavor combination. Don’t get me wrong—the taste of milk and cereal combined actually go well together. My problem is when the crisp cereal turns into sludge.

How I Eat My Cereal with Milk

Jordan Burns

My method of eating cereal is incredibly easy. I pour myself a bowl of my favorite cereal, pour myself a glass of cold milk, and sit down to enjoy my breakfast. This is what I do with every meal, and what you do with most of yours.

I like the taste of cereal with milk combined, which is why I take a bit of cereal and then gulp some milk down with it. That way, I get the perfect cereal crunch, with a nice swig of milk. No sogginess to worry about.

Although this method breaks traditional cereal eating habits, you should try to eat your breakfast cereal like this. If for some reason you enjoy eating soggy cereal, maybe use different milk options. But seriously, how good does a nice bowl of cereal with a tall glass of milk sound? It tastes even better that way.